ABSTRACT

This chapter presents the results of research on whether decision support systems (DSSs) can be used with stakeholder representatives, and whether experts who conduct environmental assessments are inclined to adopt DSSs. It discusses the benefits of using multicriteria decision aids in highway planning and elaborates on what can be categorized as a group decision support system (GDSS). Important tasks in highway planning are the generation of alternate transportation corridors and specific alignments, and the evaluation of these alternatives. Expert Choice is a computer-based DSS developed by Decision Support Software. By incorporating a GDSS into environmental assessments concerned with the location of transportation corridors, not only will the chances of making a mistake be reduced, but the process could also be labeled as one that is participatory with stakeholders. Despite the benefits associated with GDSS, consultants indicated that their implementation in a group evaluation setting could be difficult.